Skip the wood fire on still days
Cold, still winter air holds smoke near the ground for days.
Air quality in Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK
Includes Fairbanks and College · EPA monitor readings, 2021 to 2025 · 95,000 people
For today's air and tomorrow's forecast, check AirNow by ZIP code.
Bad-air days a year
32
days with an AQI over 100
About 1 day in 12. That's up from about 8 a year in the early 2000s. Fairbanks North Star Borough has the most bad-air days of the 5 Alaska counties with monitors.
15days unhealthy for everyoneAQI over 150, a year
42AQI on a typical dayGood: fine for everyone
Jan, Nov and Decworst monthsParticles trapped by cold, still air
503worst day since 2016Jul 9, 2019, fine particles
How to read the AQIThe EPA's air score runs from 0 to 500. Higher is worse. Over 100 counts as a bad-air day.
Typical day 42 (Good)Worst day 503 (Hazardous)
Good0 to 50Moderate51 to 100Sensitive groups101 to 150Unhealthy151 to 200Very unhealthy201 to 300Hazardous301 to 500
When bad air happens in Fairbanks North Star Borough
Average bad-air days in each month, from 10 years of daily readings since 2016. Most fall in January, November and December.
Jan12.4
Feb4.7
Mar0.6
Apr0
May0
Jun2.4
Jul2.9
Aug0.7
Sep0
Oct0.9
Nov4.9
Dec7.9
Fine particles (smoke, soot)Ozone (smog)Bars stack in that order, from the bottom.
See the numbers by month
| Month | Ozone | Fine particles | All |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 12.4 | 12.4 |
| February | 0 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| March | 0 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| April | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 0 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| July | 0 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| August | 0 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| September | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 0 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| November | 0 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| December | 0 | 7.9 | 7.9 |
The worst day since 2016 was July 9, 2019: AQI 503, past the top of the scale at 500, from fine particles.
What causes it
The pollutant that pushed the AQI over 100 on each of the 374 bad-air days since 2016.
100%Fine particles: smoke and soot
Most bad days here are fine-particle days in winter, when cold air traps smoke and exhaust near the ground.
What helps in Fairbanks North Star Borough
Most bad days here are winter particles held near the ground by cold air. Filtering helps, and so does burning less.
Keep one room clean on smoky days
Shut the windows and run an air purifier sized for the room.
Choosing a purifier →Upgrade the furnace filter
Use MERV 13 if your system can take it, and run the fan on smoky days.
Furnace filters →For today's reading and tomorrow's forecast, check AirNow by ZIP code. Its fire and smoke map adds smoke plumes.
Parents: what schools do at each AQI level, and how to plan for smoke and ozone days.
Purifiers with a verified smoke rating
For a clean room on smoky days. Each has a smoke CADR tested by AHAM's independent program and is certified by California as a mechanical cleaner, so it makes no ozone.
Levoit Vital 100S-P
143 smoke CADR
- Everyday
- up to 222 sq ft
- Heavy smoke
- up to 143 sq ft
- Filters
- about $40 a year
The cheapest unit we found with a verified smoke rating. Enough for a bedroom clean room.
$119.99 at LevoitLevoit Vital 200S-P
250 smoke CADR
- Everyday
- up to 388 sq ft
- Heavy smoke
- up to 250 sq ft
- Filters
- about $50 a year
The most verified smoke cleaning per dollar of any qualifying model: 75% more than the 100S-P for $50 more.
$169.99 at LevoitLevoit Core 600S-P
391 smoke CADR
- Everyday
- up to 606 sq ft
- Heavy smoke
- up to 391 sq ft
- Filters
- $60 to $120 a year
For a big room or a small apartment. Buy the LAP-C601S-WUS version, which CARB lists as mechanical.
$299.99 at LevoitWhy all 3 are Levoit: of the models we checked that pass both tests, these give the most verified smoke cleaning per dollar at each room size. Medify's MA-25 and MA-40 also pass but cost more for the same cleaning.
Ratings from the AHAM Verifide directory and CARB's certified list. Prices from Levoit's site, checked November 7, 2026; they change. We don't earn anything from these links. How to pick a purifier
Every year since 2000
Bad-air days each year. The striped part is days unhealthy for everyone, over AQI 150. The worst recent year was 2022, with 47 bad-air days.
Unhealthy for sensitive groups (101 to 150)Unhealthy or worse (over 150)
See the numbers by year
| Year | Bad-air days | Over 150 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 11 | 3 |
| 2001 | 6 | 0 |
| 2002 | 5 | 1 |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | 18 | 13 |
| 2005 | 3 | 1 |
| 2006 | 21 | 2 |
| 2007 | 14 | 2 |
| 2008 | 29 | 7 |
| 2009 | 47 | 19 |
| 2010 | 35 | 8 |
| 2011 | 32 | 5 |
| 2012 | 42 | 27 |
| 2013 | 59 | 28 |
| 2014 | 81 | 47 |
| 2015 | 63 | 43 |
| 2016 | 56 | 23 |
| 2017 | 45 | 20 |
| 2018 | 39 | 10 |
| 2019 | 39 | 21 |
| 2020 | 37 | 20 |
| 2021 | 34 | 13 |
| 2022 | 47 | 29 |
| 2023 | 32 | 11 |
| 2024 | 25 | 10 |
| 2025 | 20 | 10 |
Fairbanks North Star Borough and its neighbors
Bad-air days a year, 2021 to 2025. Alaska counties with monitors averaged about 6 bad-air days a year, weighted by population.
Fairbanks North Star Borough32
Nearest counties with a full report: Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK (1 bad-air day a year), Anchorage Municipality, AK (under 1 bad-air day a year).
Questions people ask about air in Fairbanks North Star Borough
How often is the air bad in Fairbanks North Star Borough?
From 2021 to 2025, monitors in Fairbanks North Star Borough recorded about 32 bad-air days a year with an AQI above 100, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. The worst year in that stretch was 2022, with 47 bad-air days.
What causes bad air in Fairbanks North Star Borough?
Most bad days here are fine-particle days in winter, when cold air traps smoke and exhaust near the ground. Bad days cluster in January, November and December.
Where can I see today's air quality in Fairbanks North Star Borough?
AirNow, run by the EPA and its partners, shows the current AQI and tomorrow's forecast for your ZIP code. Its fire and smoke map adds smoke plumes. On a typical day the AQI in Fairbanks North Star Borough is about 42, which is good, fine for everyone. Check it most in January, November and December, when bad days here cluster.
About these numbers
Day counts come from the EPA's county air quality summaries, which take the worst reading across a county's monitors each day. Monitors here reported on about 365 days a year from 2021 to 2025. A county is large, and your street can be cleaner or worse. CDC's modeled estimates, used on our map, don't cover Alaska or Hawaii, so the monitor numbers above are the whole picture here.
Sources: EPA AirData county AQI summaries (2000 to 2025) and daily county AQI (2016 to 2025); CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking Network modeled PM2.5 and ozone (2001 to 2022). Updated November 8, 2026.